Stabbed burglar householder bailed

A householder who was arrested on suspicion of murdering a burglar has been released on bail, police said.

PUBLISHED: 10:06, Fri, Jun 24, 2011

Police at the scene in Salford where a suspected burglar was stabbed to death [PA]

Peter Flanagan has been bailed to July 25 pending further inquiries.

John Bennell, 27, from Hyde, Greater Manchester, died from a stab wound to the chest after four masked men tried to break in the back door of a terraced house in Salford at midnight on Wednesday.

Mr Flanagan, 59, was arrested on suspicion of murder. His son Neil, 27, and a 21-year-old woman have since been released.

Meanwhile, police have also arrested a man in connection with the incident on suspicion of burglary. The man, 30, from the Tameside area, was arrested on Friday and is in police custody, Greater Manchester Police said.

Officers were earlier granted an extension of 36 hours to question Mr Flanagan, before he was bailed.

Police sources confirmed that Mr Bennell had been arrested in Tamworth, Staffordshire, earlier this month on suspicion of burglary. He was held in custody overnight and then released by Staffordshire Police pending further inquiries.

It is believed he was carried from the house in Ethel Avenue, Salford, to a nearby street after being stabbed in the break-in.

Police were first alerted by a frantic 999 call from a woman to reports of a burglary at the house, then a second call to reports of an injured man being carried along the street nearby.

Mr Bennell was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. A post-mortem examination confirmed he died as a result of a knife wound to the chest. Police have made an appeal to the public to try to trace his accomplices.

Comments Unavailable

Sorry, we are unable to accept comments about this article
at the moment. However, you will find some great articles
which you can comment on right now in our
Comment section.